The Kursk Disaster: A Terrifying Torpedo Explosion Aboard A Nuclear Submarine – SlashGear

Although a collision with NATO forces was blamed for the sinking by a general, it was ultimately proven that faulty equipment sealed the Kursk’s fate. According to the Guardian, a faulty torpedo was the cause. An investigation found that the Kursk was likely equipped with torpedoes containing a substance called HTP — essentially creating a hydrogen peroxide explosion.

“The initial impulse which triggered an explosion of the torpedo was the result of an unusual process of events inside the oxidising agent reserve of the torpedo,” Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov told reporters.

The seismic activity from the blast was caught by both American Intelligence and the Norwegians, the New York Times reported. 

According to the Navy Times, 95 sailors were killed instantly when the Kursk’s hull ruptured and it was flooded. The other 23 sailors escaped the explosion and held out in non-flooded parts of the vessel, but even that was not enough as they eventually suffocated when the Russian Navy was unable to get rescue forces on the scene in time. An emergency marking buoy was not deployed. It wasn’t until a week later that Norwegian divers were able to crack open the damaged sub and get inside. By then, all 118 crew members had lost their lives.